Norwell eateries host NECN program 'TV Diner'

Friday

The one-hour show will air first on Saturday, Aug. 22 at 10 a.m. and 7 p.m., and portions of the show will run throughout the week at other times, through Friday, Aug. 28.

What does the South Shore town of Norwell have in common with Newport, R.I., Portland, Maine and some of the great neighborhoods of Boston? The crew of the New England Cable News program "TV Diner" has stopped at all of these locations in recent months to produce its weekly “Delicious Destination” show.

Earlier this summer, the show’s host Billy Costa and the rest of the NECN crew traveled to Norwell and stopped at four establishments for some eating and interviewing: Strawberry Fair, Trattoria San Pietro, The Four’s Bar & Grille and Bo-Tes Imports and Market Place in Norwell Center.

The one-hour show will air first on Saturday, Aug. 22 at 10 a.m. and 7 p.m., and portions of the show will run throughout the week at other times, through Friday, Aug. 28.

“We’ve been planning to come to Norwell for quite a while,” said Ryan Levasseur, the show’s associate producer. “It’s a great town. There’s some awesome history.”

On the day of the shoot, the crew stopped first at Strawberry Fair, where they checked out some of the “breakfasty-brunch” fare, Levasseur said. Next, they tried out some “rustic, old-school Italian dishes” at Trattoria San Pietro. The next stop was the The Four’s, which opened for business on Route 53 earlier this summer. There, the group looked at a number of dishes including the restaurant’s well-known sandwiches named after Boston sports greats such as Ray Bourque and Bobby Orr.

“All the food was great, and there was such a varied mix,” Levasseur said of the Norwell shoot. “[At each restaurant] we highlight three or four of their dishes.” If it’s a marketplace, like Bo-Tes, we incorporate various items, including pre-prepared food and imported goods.

At Strawberry Fair, they interviewed the owner Patricia McKinley, at Trattoria San Pietro, they spoke with owner Anna Duarte, whose husband owns an establishment in the North End. Owner Tom Campanelli was interviewed at Bo-Tes Imports.

Levasseur said a lot of planning goes into the setup for each week’s show, including research, phone calls and scheduling, but the actual filming of the show is not that difficult.

The four-stop Norwell shoot, he said, was completed in three to four hours.

“It’s something that can be done rather efficiently, with the right amount of time and good organization,” he said.

New England Cable News covers all of New England, so Levasseur said the program has been taped at communities throughout each of the region’s six states.

“We really try to mix it up and let our viewers know what each town has to offer,” he said. “It’s amazing when you start looking into these towns what kind of facts you can find.”

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